Human papillomavirus infection and seroprevalence among female university students in Mexico.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common causes of sexually transmitted diseases, and the main etiology of cervical cancer. This study was aimed to assess type-specific cervical HPV prevalence and their association with HPV-specific antibodies in a cohort of female university students. HPV genotyping was performed by amplifying and sequencing a fragment of the L1 protein. A BLAST search was performed to identify HPV types. HPV-specific IgG antibodies were measured by ELISA in serum samples. A total of 129 women participated, with an average age of 21.75 years. The prevalence of vaginal HPV infection was 74.42%. The most predominant high-risk HPV types were 18 (13.95%), 31 (10.85%), and 16 (9.3%). We found that early age at coitarche and a higher number of sexual partners were significantly associated with a high prevalence of HPV infection. In addition to sexual behavior, we observed that the presence of serum-specific IgG antibodies against HPV can impact the prevalence of the virus. Seropositivity to HPV-16 and HPV-18 was associated with a lower prevalence of HPV-16, but not for other HPV types. Of note, there was a lower proportion of HPV-specific seropositivity in women who had the presence of the same HPV type in a cervical specimen, suggesting an immunoregulatory mechanism associated with the viral infection. In conclusion, the prevalence of HPV in university women was higher than expected and it was associated with early age of sexual debut, an increasing number of sexual partners, and a low proportion of HPV seropositivity.

Purshia plicata Triggers and Regulates Proteins Related to Apoptosis in HeLa Cancer Cells.

Cervical cancer represents a public health problem, develops resistance to traditional therapies and cost-of-treatment is high. These disadvantages have led to the search for alternative bioactive-compound-based therapies. Said bioactive compounds include phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and tannins. The present study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic effect of a P. plicata extract on the HeLa cell line. Viability and apoptosis assays were run on the two cell lines treated with the extract. The peptides, up- and down-expressed in both cell lines, were identified by PDQuest analysis software and high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (HPLC/MS/MS). Our results show that a 500 mg/L treatment deregulated cell viability, with different apoptotic morphologies observed which are associated with the presence of bio-compounds, which up- and down-regulated the peptides. In conclusion, P. plicata regulates proteins associated with apoptosis in HeLa cancer cells.